PluginCity Order Cutoff Time for WooCommerce
Show a countdown to your daily cutoff so customers know how long they have left to order for same-day dispatch.
Order Cutoff Time is a WooCommerce plugin that shows customers a countdown to your daily cutoff, so they know how long they have left to order for same-day dispatch.
The free version is on WordPress.org.
What it does
Show a countdown to your daily cutoff so customers know how long they have left to order for same-day dispatch.
Set a dispatch switch and a cutoff time for each day of the week, in a store timezone you can set apart from the site's, and word the message yourself with tags for the time remaining, the cutoff time and the dispatch day and date. Before the cutoff the notice counts down. After it, the notice gives the next dispatch day, or says dispatch is closed.
The notice can sit on the product page, the cart, the checkout and the mini-cart, in the Cart and Checkout blocks as well as the classic pages, or anywhere you place the [plugincity_oct_message] shortcode. It is information for the shopper and never stops anyone placing an order.
The free plugin is on WordPress.org and stays free: no account, no licence key, no trial clock, and no contact with PluginCity.
Pro is the same plugin with more added, sold and supported by PluginCity. It adds dispatch rules that match on a shipping method, zone, class, product, category and customer role, each with its own schedule, up to three dispatch windows a day, lead time, extra production days and wording, plus holidays, blackout dates and one-off cutoffs you type in, notice styling, an order simulator, CSV import and export, and a support snapshot. If the licence lapses, nothing is deleted and every customer sees the weekly schedule and the shop-wide wording.
Watch: how it works
WooCommerce has no setting for a daily order cutoff time, so customers can only guess when an order will ship. In this step-by-step tutorial we add one to a WooCommerce shop with the free PluginCity Order Cutoff Time for WooCommerce plugin: a dispatch schedule with a cutoff time for each day, customer messages for before the cutoff, after it and when dispatch is closed, and the places they show. The message gives the time left to order, counting down live on the page, and the next dispatch date. It informs only: the plugin does not stop anyone from checking out. No code needed.
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Read the transcript
Order at five to two, and it ships today. Order at five past, and it ships tomorrow. But customers can't see that line, unless your shop shows it. In this tutorial, we'll add an order cutoff time to WooCommerce, with the free PluginCity Order Cutoff Time plugin. It shows the time left to order, and the next dispatch date, on the product page, the cart, and the checkout. It tells your customers. It doesn't stop anyone from checking out. No code needed.
Here's a standard WooCommerce shop. A customer is looking at a mug, at quarter past three on a Wednesday. Nothing on the page says when it will ship. Not on the product page, and not in the cart. The checkout is the same. The customer has to guess, or ask you. On its own, WooCommerce has no setting for a daily cutoff time. That's what this plugin adds.
First, install the plugin. Go to Plugins, then Add Plugin. Search for PluginCity Order Cutoff Time for WooCommerce. Click Install Now, then Activate. WooCommerce has to be active first, as it is here. The plugin is free, from WordPress.org, and needs no license key.
Now open the settings. Go to WooCommerce, then Order Cutoff Time. On the left are four sections: Dispatch schedule, Messages, Display, and Import and export. The entries marked Pro describe the paid version. We'll look at them at the end.
Start with Dispatch schedule. Store status should say Use weekly schedule. The timezone follows your site, which is New York here. We'll come back to that. Below is a row for each day of the week. Tick Enabled on every day you dispatch orders. Monday to Friday are on, and the weekend is off. Then set a cutoff time for each day. The field uses a 24-hour clock, so 14:00 is 2 pm. Orders placed before the cutoff are dispatched that day. Orders placed after it wait for the next dispatch day. Let's make Friday earlier, as an example. We'll set it to 12 noon. Click Save changes.
Next, Messages. These are the sentences your customers see. There's one for before the cutoff, one for after it, and one for when dispatch is closed. The default wording works well. But you can change it, using tags in curly brackets. The tags are time remaining, cutoff time, dispatch day and dispatch date, plus next dispatch day and next dispatch date. Let's rewrite the first message. Order within the time remaining, before the cutoff time, and we dispatch today. One warning. The cutoff time tag is empty after the cutoff, so don't use it in the After message.
Display decides where the message shows. There's a box for product pages, the cart, and the checkout. Shortcode lets you place the message on any other page, and we'll try that later. Countdown is on by default. The time left counts down live, and at zero it switches to the After message. Leave them all on, and save.
Now let's test it as a customer. On the demo shop's clock, it's half past ten on Wednesday. The product page shows the message. It says how long is left to order, and that the order goes out today. Add the mug to the cart, and the cart shows the same message. So does the checkout. The customer knows what to expect, before they pay. Place the order, and it goes through as normal.
The countdown ticks live, with no reload. It's a minute to two. We'll skip to the last few seconds. And at two o'clock, the message switches to the After message, by itself.
Now it's quarter past three. The cutoff has passed. The product page changes. Orders placed now will be dispatched tomorrow, and it shows the date. The cart and the checkout say the same. And the customer can still place the order. The plugin never blocks checkout.
Here it's Friday, quarter past three. Friday's cutoff was noon, so it has passed. The weekend is switched off, so the next dispatch is Monday. You don't have to work out dates yourself. The plugin counts forward to the next enabled day.
Sometimes you need to change things for a few days. Store status can override the weekly schedule. Choose Closed, and the Closed message shows instead. Closed doesn't stop checkout either, so write the message to match. Tell customers when the next dispatch is. Customers now see your wording, with the next dispatch date. When you're ready, switch Store status back to Use weekly schedule.
One edge case is the timezone. Cutoff times are worked out in the store timezone, and the default is your site's. Say your dispatch team works in London. Pick Europe, London, from the Timezone list. It's still half past ten in New York, but it's half past three in London, so the two pm cutoff has passed. The product page agrees. Orders placed now will be dispatched tomorrow. Set it back to your site's timezone, unless your team really works somewhere else.
You can show the message anywhere. Add the shortcode [plugincity_oct_message] to any page. Here it is on a page of its own. It follows the same schedule, and the same wording.
A quick word on Pro. Everything we've done today is in the free plugin. Pro is a separate, paid version. It adds dispatch rules by shipping method, zone, class, product and customer role. It also adds holidays and one-off cutoffs, notice styling, and an order simulator. You don't need it to follow this tutorial.
That's your order cutoff time set up. A schedule, messages for before and after, and places to show them. It tells customers what to expect. It doesn't block checkout. To close ordering at set hours, that's a different job. Start with the free version. Go to Plugins, Add Plugin, and search for PluginCity Order Cutoff Time for WooCommerce.
See it in action
What Free includes
Free forever on WordPress.org.
- A weekly schedule with a dispatch switch and a cutoff time for each day of the week, in a store timezone you can set apart from the site's.
- A live countdown to today's cutoff, which you can switch off, then the next dispatch day and date once it has passed.
- Messages in your own wording, with tags for the time remaining, the cutoff time, the dispatch day and date, and the next dispatch day and date. Bold, italics and links are allowed.
- Store status: follow the weekly schedule, or set the shop to always open or closed for a temporary change.
- Dates and times written in the site's own date and time format.
- Notices on the product page, the cart, the checkout and the mini-cart, each switched on or off, in the Cart and Checkout blocks as well as the classic pages.
- A shortcode, [plugincity_oct_message], to place the current message on any page or widget.
- An informational message only: it never blocks checkout or changes a payment button.
- Settings import and export, for a backup or another shop.
- High-Performance Order Storage.
- No account, no licence key and no contact with PluginCity.
What Pro adds
Everything in Free, plus all of the features below.
- Dispatch rules that match on a shipping method, a shipping zone, a shipping class, a product, a product category and a customer role. Everything a rule sets has to be true, and within one box any choice will do.
- A rule can require that any item in the cart is covered, or every item. A parent category covers its sub-categories, and a visitor who is not signed in is the guest role.
- Rule priority: lowest number first, the first rule that fits is used, and an order that fits no rule uses the weekly schedule.
- A weekly schedule of its own for each rule, with a switch and a cutoff time for each day, and up to three dispatch windows a day, each with an optional name that {window_label} puts into a message.
- Lead time in calendar days, and extra production days that push dispatch back by further dispatch days, skipping days with no dispatch and holidays.
- Wording of its own for each rule, before the cutoff, after it and when dispatch is closed.
- Holidays and blackout dates: a single date, a run of days, or a date that repeats every year. A day with no dispatch wins over a one-off cutoff on the same date.
- One-off cutoffs: a single date with its own cutoff, dispatching even when the weekday normally has none.
- Notice and countdown styling: background, text and border colours, the colour of the time left, corner radius, text size, weight and alignment.
- An order simulator: choose products, a delivery country and postcode, a shipping method, a customer role and a date and time, and see the rule used, why each other rule did or did not apply, the cutoff, the dispatch date and the exact message.
- A schedule CSV: blackout dates, one-off cutoffs and the days of a rule's own schedule, imported or exported as a spreadsheet. An import adds to what is there, never deletes, and imports nothing if any row has a problem.
- A support snapshot with your rules, dates, styling, shipping zones, methods and classes, and the plugin, WordPress, WooCommerce and PHP versions. It leaves out the licence key, orders and customer details.
- PluginCity licensing, updates and direct support.
Free vs Pro
What the free version of PluginCity Order Cutoff Time for WooCommerce does, and what Pro adds. Pro is the complete plugin, so everything in Free is in Pro too.
| Feature | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| A weekly schedule with a dispatch switch and a cutoff time for each day of the week, in a store timezone you can set apart from the site's. | Included | Included |
| A live countdown to today's cutoff, which you can switch off, then the next dispatch day and date once it has passed. | Included | Included |
| Messages in your own wording, with tags for the time remaining, the cutoff time, the dispatch day and date, and the next dispatch day and date. Bold, italics and links are allowed. | Included | Included |
| Store status: follow the weekly schedule, or set the shop to always open or closed for a temporary change. | Included | Included |
| Dates and times written in the site's own date and time format. | Included | Included |
| Notices on the product page, the cart, the checkout and the mini-cart, each switched on or off, in the Cart and Checkout blocks as well as the classic pages. | Included | Included |
| A shortcode, [plugincity_oct_message], to place the current message on any page or widget. | Included | Included |
| An informational message only: it never blocks checkout or changes a payment button. | Included | Included |
| Settings import and export, for a backup or another shop. | Included | Included |
| High-Performance Order Storage. | Included | Included |
| No account, no licence key and no contact with PluginCity. | Included | Included |
| Dispatch rules that match on a shipping method, a shipping zone, a shipping class, a product, a product category and a customer role. Everything a rule sets has to be true, and within one box any choice will do. | Not included | Included |
| A rule can require that any item in the cart is covered, or every item. A parent category covers its sub-categories, and a visitor who is not signed in is the guest role. | Not included | Included |
| Rule priority: lowest number first, the first rule that fits is used, and an order that fits no rule uses the weekly schedule. | Not included | Included |
| A weekly schedule of its own for each rule, with a switch and a cutoff time for each day, and up to three dispatch windows a day, each with an optional name that {window_label} puts into a message. | Not included | Included |
| Lead time in calendar days, and extra production days that push dispatch back by further dispatch days, skipping days with no dispatch and holidays. | Not included | Included |
| Wording of its own for each rule, before the cutoff, after it and when dispatch is closed. | Not included | Included |
| Holidays and blackout dates: a single date, a run of days, or a date that repeats every year. A day with no dispatch wins over a one-off cutoff on the same date. | Not included | Included |
| One-off cutoffs: a single date with its own cutoff, dispatching even when the weekday normally has none. | Not included | Included |
| Notice and countdown styling: background, text and border colours, the colour of the time left, corner radius, text size, weight and alignment. | Not included | Included |
| An order simulator: choose products, a delivery country and postcode, a shipping method, a customer role and a date and time, and see the rule used, why each other rule did or did not apply, the cutoff, the dispatch date and the exact message. | Not included | Included |
| A schedule CSV: blackout dates, one-off cutoffs and the days of a rule's own schedule, imported or exported as a spreadsheet. An import adds to what is there, never deletes, and imports nothing if any row has a problem. | Not included | Included |
| A support snapshot with your rules, dates, styling, shipping zones, methods and classes, and the plugin, WordPress, WooCommerce and PHP versions. It leaves out the licence key, orders and customer details. | Not included | Included |
| PluginCity licensing, updates and direct support. | Not included | Included |
Who it is for
- Shops that dispatch on the day for orders placed before a cutoff
- Shops that want the countdown on the product page, the cart, the checkout and the mini-cart
- Shops that need different cutoffs by shipping method, zone, class, product, category or customer role (Pro)
Who it is not for
- Shops that need orders refused after the cutoff: the notice is information for the shopper and it never stops anyone placing an order
Pricing
Every Pro plan is the same plugin with every feature. The only difference is how many sites you can run it on.
Free
The free plugin, free forever. Distributed through WordPress.org. No licence, no account.
$0
Get Freeon WordPress.org
Single site
One site, with a year of updates and support.
$49/year
Secure checkout. Cancel any time.
5 sites
Most popularUp to 5 sites, with a year of updates and support.
$99/year
Secure checkout. Cancel any time.
25 sites
Up to 25 sites, with a year of updates and support.
$199/year
Secure checkout. Cancel any time.
Need more than 25 sites? Get in touch about a custom licence.
Frequently asked questions
Does it work with the block cart and checkout?
Yes. The message appears in WooCommerce's Cart and Checkout blocks, and on the classic cart and checkout pages, without adding cart errors or preventing checkout.
What is the difference between Free and Pro?
Free gives you the weekly schedule, the store timezone, always-open and closed overrides, messages in your own wording, notices on the product page, cart, checkout and mini-cart, the countdown, the shortcode and settings import and export. Pro adds dispatch rules by shipping method, zone, class, product, category and customer role, with their own schedules, dispatch windows, lead time and extra production days, plus holidays, blackout dates and one-off cutoffs, notice styling, an order simulator, CSV import and export, a support snapshot, and PluginCity licensing, updates and direct support.
Do I need an account or a licence for the free plugin?
No. Install it from WordPress.org. It needs no account or licence key, has no trial clock, and never contacts PluginCity.
How do I move from Free to Pro?
Pro is the whole plugin, not an add-on, so it does not need Free installed. It installs instead of Free, in the same plugin folder, and your existing settings stay in place. Only one of the two can be active at a time.
Can I change the wording?
Yes. Write the wording for before the cutoff, after it and while dispatch is closed, using the tags for the time remaining, the cutoff time, and the dispatch and next dispatch days and dates. Bold, italics and links are allowed. Anything else is removed before it reaches the storefront. With Pro, each dispatch rule can carry wording of its own.
Can I show the message somewhere else on my site?
Yes. Add [plugincity_oct_message] to a page or widget. It follows the display setting and prints the current dispatch information.
What time does the schedule use?
A store timezone you choose under Dispatch schedule. It starts as the site's timezone, and it can be any named timezone, such as America/New_York, so a dispatch team in another timezone can have its own cutoffs. Dates and times in the message use the site's date and time format.
Can I close dispatch for a while?
Yes. Choose Closed under Store status, and the message tells customers the next scheduled dispatch. Choose Use weekly schedule to go back to normal. For particular dates in advance, such as a week of leave, Pro has holidays and blackout dates.
Does it affect checkout or payment buttons?
No. The message explains the schedule but never blocks checkout, order creation or payment.
Does it work with High-Performance Order Storage?
Yes. It does not write cutoff data to orders.
What can a dispatch rule match on?
With Pro, a shipping method (one method instance or every method of one kind), a shipping zone including Everywhere else, a shipping class, a product, a product category and a customer role. A parent category covers its sub-categories, and a visitor who is not signed in is the guest role. Everything you fill in has to be true for the rule to apply. Within one box, any choice will do, and a box left empty does not limit anything.
Which rule is used when more than one fits?
With Pro, the one with the lowest priority number. Rules are checked in that order and the first one that fits is used. An order that fits no rule uses the weekly schedule. The order simulator shows every rule in order, with the reason each one did or did not apply.
Why does a product page ignore my shipping method or zone rule?
On a product page the customer's address and chosen shipping method are not known yet, and a cached page would show one customer's answer to the next. So with Pro, product pages are judged on the product, its categories, its shipping class and the customer's role. Shipping method and zone rules are used on the cart, the checkout, the mini-cart and the Cart and Checkout blocks. On the classic cart and checkout the notice refreshes when the customer chooses another shipping method.
What do lead time and extra production days do?
With Pro, lead time adds calendar days to the day the order is counted on, before the next dispatch day is found. Use it for items that cannot leave the day they are ordered. Extra production days push dispatch back by that many further dispatch days, skipping days with no dispatch and holidays. Use them for made-to-order work.
Can I have more than one cutoff in a day?
Yes, with Pro. A rule's own weekly schedule allows up to three dispatch windows a day, each with its own cutoff time and an optional name. Put {window_label} in a message to show the name of the window the order falls in.
How do holidays, blackout dates and one-off cutoffs work?
With Pro, a blackout is a day with no dispatch: a single date, a run of days, or a date that repeats every year. A one-off cutoff gives one date a cutoff of its own, and the shop dispatches that day even when the weekday normally has no dispatch. Both apply to every schedule, including each rule's own. Where a date is in both lists, the day with no dispatch wins. You type your own dates. There is no built-in holiday calendar and nothing is fetched from an outside service.
Can I check what a customer will be told before they see it?
Yes, with Pro. The order simulator takes products, a delivery country and postcode, a shipping method, a customer role and a date and time. It shows the rule that was used, why each other rule did or did not apply, the cutoff, the dispatch date and the exact message. Nothing you type there is saved.
Can I set my dates and schedules in a spreadsheet?
Yes, with Pro. The schedule CSV has three kinds of row: blackout dates, one-off cutoffs and the days of a rule's own weekly schedule. Importing adds to what is already there and never deletes. If any row has a problem, nothing is imported. Cells that a spreadsheet would read as a formula are made safe.
What does the support snapshot contain?
With Pro, your rules, dates and styling, the shipping zones, methods and classes, and the plugin, WordPress, WooCommerce and PHP versions. It leaves out the licence key, orders and customer details, and the plugin sends it nowhere. You choose whether to share it.
How do Pro updates and support work?
Download Pro from your PluginCity account and enter your licence key under WooCommerce, Order Cutoff Time, Licence. Updates then appear on the Plugins screen, and the key also connects the site to direct support. The free plugin updates through WordPress.org.
What happens when the Pro licence lapses?
Nothing is deleted. The Pro features switch off and every customer sees the weekly schedule and the shop-wide wording. Your rules, dates and styling stay on the screen as words you can read but not change. Renewing switches them back on as you left them.
Recent Pro releases
Version 1.0.08 Oct 2026
- First public release.
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